Fusion Recipes

I had leftover bean sprouts from a large pot of phở over the weekend, and I decided to make a salad with it. The color of the bean sprouts needed a little oomph, so I added shredded red cabbage. In addition to the red cabbage, I also used diced Fuji apples.

Given the Asian flair of the salad, I made a peanut, lime and condensed milk vinaigrette. This is a very quick and easy first course, which gave me some time to work on a delicious dessert to satisfy my husband's sweet tooth for Valentine’s Day.

Yardlong beans are also known as Chinese long beans, long-podded cowpeas, asparagus beans or even snake beans. They are more tender (with a hint of sweetness) than regular green beans and are 4 times longer.

I've come up with a coconut milk yardlong bean recipe inspired by an Indian bean dish Baji (Lulu's grandmother) taught me, called gawar ki phalli. Instead of the traditional cluster beans, I cut long beans into small pieces and cooked them in coconut sauce (instead of sesame sauce) until tender. I think the coconut milk makes the dish a lot more decadent. It's become a favorite in my house; the girls especially love this dish.

This version of tomato risotto has a decidedly Indian sensibility. I flavored the rice with tomato chutney as I recently did with an Indian-inspired asparagus pie. The flavors from the chutney are so bold that no other spices and very little salt are needed. I just added chopped sun-dried tomatoes as garnish.

Turbot fish is a flat, bright white-fleshed fish that is well-known in both French and Asian cuisine. The flavor is quite delicate and is perfect if you're looking for a light meal.

I dredged the fish in a little flour and pan-fried it until the surface is slightly crispy. The only trick to preparing turbot is to carefully watch the cooking time. You don’t want the fish to be too dry and over-cooked.

I decided to serve it with fish sauce. You could also accompany the fish with spicy Indian-style salsa (called kachumbar) or a French sauce I often love to pair with fish, called sauce au raifort(horseradish).

Asparagus tart is a delightful, tasty, light meal. It's perfect when you have your girlfriends coming over for lunch. I don't know why, but there is something fancy about these green, long-stemmed vegetables. It's perfect if you're serving a vegetarian meal that contains no egg. And if you're looking for a similar recipe with eggs, you could always make a quiche.

To make the dish, I caramelized leeks and a fennel bulb in a pan, then added Indian-style tomato chutney. I like the kick from the Indian spices and I think they really highlight the asparagus well. This mixture forms the base of the tart. Finally, I topped the tart with roasted asparagus and gave them a light sprinkling of jalapeño cheddar cheese.

I love combining Indian and French cuisine. At first blush, it may seem like these two styles of cooking would clash, but if care is taken, you can really make some special dishes. The trick is to reduce the heat from the Indian components of the dish and to pick French dishes that have bold flavors. This approach works both ways; I’ve made a mustard-based raitathat is absolutely amazing with khichdi(rice cooked with coral lentils).

Until I got married, I didn’t really have much exposure to Indian food. So I guess I have my husband Lulu to thank for broadening my culinary horizons!